Pikmin 1

Genre: Real-Time Strategy / Action-RPG

Players: 1

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Review:

(Note: As both Pikmin 1 and Pikmin 2 feature many of the same qualities and problems, I am copying much of the text for these reviews and changing what differs between the two)

The Pikmin series, for those unfamiliar, is Nintendo’s own unique spin on the Real-Time Strategy genre, with players controlling a puny space explorer (or explorers) who commands a horde of plant/ant creatures to fight buglike enemies, collect various items (including “artifacts” that are clearly various nick knacks left behind by a suspiciously normal-sized human society), and explore the strange world of the game.

After being virtually ignored by Nintendo for the last decade, 2023 has really been the Pikmin franchise’s time to shine – earlier this year, we received Pikmin 4 on Nintendo Switch, with this game later being followed-up with ports of Pikmin 1 and Pikmin 2 (as well as a compilation containing both, Pikmin 1 + Pikmin 2 Bundle), meaning that all four mainline games in the franchise are all playable on Nintendo Switch.

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Piklopedia

The original release of Pikmin came in 2001 on the GameCube, just a few weeks after the launch of that console in North America. Under other circumstances, this might have been an ideal time to introduce a new franchise to Nintendo early adopters hungry for new games and searching for something to latch onto after a system launch that was conspicuously missing a mainline Mario game. However, Pikmin had the great misfortune of launching on the exact same day as Super Smash Bros. Melee, likely the biggest early “system-seller” that console received, and a game that would go on to be the best-selling game on the GameCube.

The game would see a port to Wii in 2009 as a part of the “new play control” series that added Wii Remote motion controls, with this version of the game added to the Wii U Virtual Console in 2016. As such, Pikmin’s release on the Nintendo Switch (now with the title “Pikmin 1”) means that this game has been re-released on every Nintendo console since the GameCube.

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Burrowing Snagret

I really do need to emphasize that this game is a port, not a remake. It certainly isn’t anything as extensive as what we saw earlier this year in Metroid Prime Remastered. To be fair, there have been some improvements and changes made here, some to adjust to the new platform and some to do the bare minimum to fall in line with expectations for modern game releases. However, Pikmin 1 is an old game, and this release does little to try to hide that fact.

When this game originally released on the GameCube, it was a graphical marvel, with lush realistic outdoor environments. However, 22 years later on the Nintendo Switch, I’m sad to say, the bloom is off the rose. Pikmin 1 is over two decades old, after all, and it looks it. Having said that, there have at least been a few minor graphical upgrades here – the original game’s 480p resolution has been increased to 1280p on Nintendo Switch when docked, and 720p in portable mode. However, it keeps the original game’s 30FPS framerates (thanks to Digital Foundry for the numbers). There have been a few other elements that have gotten a higher-resolution upgrade as well, such as any font and UI elements. The cinematics have also gotten a bump up to a higher resolution.

Unfortunately, this resolution bump doesn’t extend to the game’s textures, which look really rough now that you can see them more clearly. There are a few elements here that saw improved textures, such as Olimar’s spaceship, but the ground textures really needed that same sort of love, and the lack of an improvement here really makes them look ugly. Furthermore, a lot of the 3D models for the ground looks pretty blocky by today’s standards, although things tend to look better when you have more natural elements like plenty of flowers to obscure these blocky models. However, even there you can find another issue – this game suffers from some ugly aliasing.

In short, while there is some polish here to bring the game up to modern standards, there are definitely plenty of unpolished areas that look rough.

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Wolpole

The gameplay of this release is also pretty similar to the original game, though once again there are some noteworthy improvements here. The additional buttons of the Nintendo Switch have been put to good use here – the ability to manually move pikmin around your character now requires players to hold down the L button while moving the right analog stick, which might seem like a frustrating extra step, except this means that the normal functioning of the right analog stick is now freed up to freely control the camera, a huge quality-of-life addition.

Also, much as in Pikmin 3 Deluxe, this version of Pikmin 1 cuts the difference between the standard gamepad controls and the “New Play Control” version with motion controls by giving players the option to utilize either control scheme, though I would argue that the motion controls are definitely the way to go – these are only active when aiming pikmin, and the amount of precision this allows in aiming, especially while moving, is a huge improvement to the gameplay.

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Bulborb Larva

As for the game itself, the original Pikmin is still an absolutely superb game with a wonderfully inspired blend of Real-Time Strategy and Action-RPG elements with an emphasis on exploration. However, I feel that Pikmin 1 is clearly the worst game in the series. It is by far the shortest game in the series, with the fewest varieties of Pikmin. The in-game 30-day time limit is something that will likely stress out more casual players, and it won’t affect more skilled players. This is the only game in the series on Nintendo Switch without any form of multiplayer. And I also noticed that the pikmin in this game have a particularly difficult time with pathfinding compared to more modern entries in the series.

However, undoubtedly the biggest flaw in this release is its price. Given this game’s 20+ year age and how minimal an effort seems to have gone into this port, the $30 price tag seems kinda’ insulting here, especially when the Player’s Choice release of the game on GameCube and the Wii U Virtual Console versions of the game both cost only $20.

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Puffy Blowhog

While the price tag is steep, and this is a disappointingly minimal port with only a few minor improvements, it bears to mention that this is still, I would argue, the definitive version of Pikmin 1. While the improved resolution and control options are almost a “bare minimum” effort, they’re still an effort that presents us with the best version of a great game, albeit a great game that is inferior to all three of its sequels. If you’re a series fan, or want to play the Pikmin franchise in order, this is well worth picking up. However, modern players looking for their first Pikmin game are recommended to skip ahead to Pikmin 3 Deluxe or Pikmin 4 instead.

tl;dr – Pikmin 1 is a port of the first game in the Pikmin series, games loosely within the Real-Time Strategy genre that put the focus on exploration and puzzle-solving rather than strategic combat. This port has some very minor improvements that make this the definitive version of the game, but overall this is a bare-bones port of the worst game in the mainline series. It’s still well worth playing, but you’re probably better off playing this game’s sequels instead.

Grade: B

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